After being officially opened by HE Myat Hein, union minister of Myanmar’s ministry of communications and information technology, the conference shed light on plans from existing local operators and the two international players ahead of the country’s new telecoms law, which is due to be passed in the coming weeks.

During a press conference at the event, Ooredoo Group’s senior representative Ross Cormack said that it was “no secret that the country hasn’t seen an infrastructure roll-out on this scale before”.

“The regulator has encouraged us to talk together and if we can, pull together. And so we have held discussions with Telenor with regards to doing exactly that,” he said.

Cormack described a strategy of “passive infrastructure sharing” as enabling both companies to reduce costs for themselves and the end customer.

“It means we only use one site rather than two, limiting the impact on the area as well as allowing for a faster roll-out,” he added.

Local players were quick to welcome the entrance of foreign players into the market.

“Allowing two international [companies to enter the market] on full mobile licences and the approval of a new telecoms law shows the progression of the telecoms sector,” said Tin Win, CEO of Myanmar-based Yatanarpon Teleport (YTC).